Practice · code · selection
The paint engine is a place to work through an idea: change its conditions, generate possibilities, keep what resonates, and return to the code.
Three inscribed milestones
These works trace the development of the engine across different versions. Each is a separate inscription and a point in an ongoing practice.
![Paint Engine v0.3 [Jackie's Sample] by Lemonhaze](https://render.ord.net/v9/snapshots/0b1c283e4fe2637a881639a2a715348c56759840f06f7e1142652da60a4a2d4ei0/512.webp)
![Paint Engine v0.6 [Wild Patch] by Lemonhaze](https://render.ord.net/v9/snapshots/0109e594769bd8c50e1f8fc15e80db0b93188d881bf2a258c7a88dcbe609b391i0/512.webp)
What I control, what I let vary
In Passe-Partout, the controls separate palette, aspect ratio, brush mode, texture, frame, and layout. “Generate” changes the overall starting point; “Iterate” makes a new layout while keeping the palette and seed. This lets a visual idea develop through a family of outputs.
| Decision | In the studio |
|---|---|
| Palette, ratio, brush, texture | Set the visual conditions of the work. |
| Generate and iterate | Explore compositions within or beyond those conditions. |
| Review and save | Keep outputs that resonate; continue refining the system. |
For 1/1s and curated series, which is more in line with my personal interest and broader process I tend to keep the algo "wild" and often generate many outputs (within the same idea) from which I pick the one I resonate with on a given day. This allows me to keep moving and continuously explore different ideas, as well as improving and changing specific aspects of my base algo and add/remove & craft new small functions, as I see fit. This approach is better suited for my quest to define this vague idea that drives me, and so I continuously iterate and evolve with it - and only from time to time I stop to inscribe something Either because I have something to say, something to document or I reached a fictive milestone where I feel satisfied (for a short moment) with the work that is in front of me.
Gentleman SE 2025 · Part Two (Process)
Texture as a direction
Over the last year I put a lot of focus on developing textures because it’s something that resonates with me and makes the work feel alive. Half-digital, half-organic, all of which aligns with this vague idea of what I want to create. Yet, what I do isn’t technically novel - but to me, it’s irrelevant because in the end I follow my own interests.
Gentleman SE 2025 · Part Two (Process)
In the 2025 process essay, Lemonhaze connects this layered approach to the way he once produced music. The engine gives that interest a set of tools that can keep changing with the work.
Explore Passe-Partout
Open the saved v1.07 engine to try generating and iterating. These are new study outputs from the engine. They are not newly inscribed works or selections made by the artist.